Strip applying machines



Feb. 19, 1963 J. 5. KELLETT ETAL 3,077,620

STRIP APPLYING MACHINES Filed Jan. 23, 1962 Inventors John 15. Kellei'tKenneth L. Moore By their'Att-orney W UnitedStates Patent O Jersey FiledJan. 23, 1962, Ser. No. 168,137 Claims priority, application GreatBritain Feb. 4, 1961 3 Claims. (Cl. 12-67) This invention relates tostrip applying machines, and is herein illustrated as embodied in amachine for adhesively applying a welt to the overlasted margin of ashoe upper. It will, however, be understood that the invention is notthus limited in its utility.

In the manufacture of certain types of shoes it is customary to apply tothe upper surface of the extension edge of the outsole a strip ofmaterial, simulating a welt, to enhance the appearance of the shoe. Thestrip may be of leather, rubber, plastic, or other suitable material.

A machine for adhesively applying such a strip is il lustrated in UnitedStates Letters Patents No. 2,850,751, issued September 9, 1958 upon anapplication of Cyril H. James. In the machine of the James patent thework is supported on and fed by a roll mounted on a shaft, while thestrip is applied to the sole margin by a frustoconical roll mounted onanother shaft and rotated about an axis disposed at an angle to the axisof rotation of the work supporting and feed roll.

In recent years it has become the practice to attach, by means ofadhesive, a welt around the feather of a shoe which has been inwardlylasted by adhesive. The welt is so shaped on the portion which isattached to the upper that the welt extends outwardly in a planeparallel to the shoe bottom.

The latter method has several advantages as compared with the previouslydescribed method, in that, in addition to enhancing the appearance ofthe shoe, it helps to keep out water from the welt crease and providesan additional bond between the sole and the upper.

It is an object of the invention to provide a machine of the typedisclosed in the James patent previously referred to, but moreparticularly adapted for the adhesive attachment of a welt strip to thelasted margin of a shoe upper.

To this end, there is provided, in a strip applying machine, a rotatablework supporting and feed table, a roll engageable with one edge of awelt strip to press the strip inwardly against the lasted margin of theshoe upper, and a rotatable guide against which the shoe is held by theoperator as it is being fed during a welt attaching operation. Inaccordance with a feature of the invention, the table, the welt pressingroll and the shoe guide are mounted upon a single shaft and rotate abouta common axis, whereby the attachment of the welt and the feed of thework may be accomplished with a minimum expenditure of effort on thepart of the operator.

The illustrated machine is also provided with a welt guide forcontrolling the welt to the point of application, and if the welt to beattached and/or the lasted margin of the upper are coated with aheat-activatable cement, a hotair blower may be provided for activatingthe cement immediately in advance of the point of application.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a left side elevation, partly in section, of a machineembodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in the direction indicated by the arrow II in FIG. 1;and

FIG. 3 is a view, to a larger scale than FIGS. 1 and 2, showing, insection, a portion of the welt attaching instrumentalities of themachine operating upon a shoe.

3,077,620 Patented Feb. 19, 1963 ice The machine is mounted on a column2, in the base of which is a motor (not shown) which is arranged todrive a pulley 4 continuously by means of a belt 6. The pulley 4 issecured to a shaft 8 of a reduction gear unit 10, of conventional form,which is mounted on a rear portion of a two-armed bracket 12 secured tothe column 2 by screws 14. The arms of the bracket 12 extend upwardlyand have pivotedin their upper end portions by two pivot screws 16 (onlyone of which is visible in the drawings) a two-armed bearing bracket 18.The bearing bracket is thus adjustable angularly about the pivot screws16 and is secured in the adjusted position by two locking screws 20 (oneonly of which is visible in the drawings). The locking screws arethreaded one in each arm of the bearing bracket 18 and extend outwardlythrough arcuate slots 22 (one only shown) in the arms of the bracket 12,the bearing bracket being secured by the locking screws in any positionwithin the range allowed by the slots.

Journaled in a bridge portion 24 extending between the walls of thebearing bracket 18 is a spindle 26, the rearward end portion of which iscoupled by means of a universal coupling 28 to an output shaft 30 of thereduction gear unit 10. The spindle 26 emerges upwardly through thebridge portion 24 to carry a disk-like table 32, to which a welt strip Wis guided for attachment to the overlasted margin of a shoe upper S. Thetable 32 is secured to the end of the spindle 26 by a mushroomheadedscrew 36 which acts as a shoe guide and is threaded into the spindle.Between the head of the screw 36 and the table 32 is secured a welt edgepressing roll 38 comprising a washer of a thickness slightly exceedingthe thickness of the welt and of smaller diameter than the head of thescrew. The periphery of the roll 38 is offset inwardly of the screw heada distance substantially equal to the distance the welt projectsoutwardly of the crease between the upper and the welt, the arrangementbeing such that the roll presses the welt against the overlasted marginof the shoe upper by engagement with its outer edge, while the shoe ispressed by the operator against the attaching face of the welt as it isguided by engagement with the head of the screw 36, as shown in FIG. 3.

For controlling the welt to the point of application, the machine isprovided with a guide 40 comprising a lower lip 41 adapted to extend tothe marginal portion 34 of the table 32 which is stepped below thecentral portion thereof to provide a continuous supporting surface forthe work. Built on the lower lip 41 is a bridge piece which, togetherwith the lower lip, forms a tunnel of rectangular cross section throughwhich the welt strip can just pass without undue friction. The guide 40is carried by an arm 42 which is adjustably secured to the bearingbracket 18 by a screw 44 which extends through a slot 46 in the arm andis threaded into the bearing brack- In the operation of the machine, thewelt W is fed, from a reel (not shown), through the tunnel of the weltguide, the end of the welt projecting through the welt guide intocontact with the roll 38. The welt will conveniently have been coated onits shoe engaging surface with either a pressure sensitive cement or aheat activatable cement, as may also the portion of the shoe upper towhich the welt is to be attached. If a heat activatable cement is used,the machine may be fitted with a nozzle (not shown) through which hotair may be directed against the welt and the upper immediately inadvance of the point of application of the welt.

With the welt in position to be attached to a shoe, the portion of theshoe upper at which the welt attaching is to commence is pressed againstthe welt and against the head of the screw 36, which acts as a shoeguide, while the shoe is also held down by the operator against thesupporting table 3-2. Since the table, the roll 38, and the shoe guide36 are continuously rotated, the shoe, with but little effort on thepart of the operator, is fed until the required length of welt has beenattached, the operator taking care to keep the shoe in contact with theshoe guide and the table, especially-when operating around a curve, suchas the toe end'of a shoe.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for adhesively attaching a welt strip to the lasted marginof a shoe upper, comprising a rotatable spindle, means for driving saidspindle, a table mounted on the spindle for supporting a shoe and a weltstrip fed thereto and for feeding the work, a roll also mounted on saidspindle and engageable with the outer edge of the welt strip to pressthe strip against the overlasted margin of the shoe upper, and a membersecured to said spindle and engageable with the shoe to guide the sameduring the attachment of the welt strip.

2. A machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the welt edgepressing roll is offset inwardly of the periphery of the shoe guidingmember a distance substantially equal to the distance the welt is toproject from the crease between the welt and the shoe upper.

3. A machine according to claim 1, characterized by the provision of anadjustable guide having a tunnel portion of rectangular cross sectionthrough which the welt is guided toward the point of attachment to theoverlasted margin of a shoe upper, said tunnel portion of said weltguide extending into a stepped marginal portion of the supporting tableto provide a continuous supporting surface for the Work.

1,198,670 ,Shanahan Sept. 19, 1916 Connors June 1, 1943 g ar v--

1. A MACHINE FOR ADHESIVELY ATTACHING A WELT STRIP TO THE LASTED MARGINOF A SHOE UPPER, COMPRISING A ROTATABLE SPINDLE, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAIDSPINDLE, A TABLE MOUNTED ON THE SPINDLE FOR SUPPORTING A SHOE AND A WELTSTRIP FED THERETO AND FOR FEEDING THE WORK, A ROLL ALSO MOUNTED ON SAIDSPINDLE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE OUTER EDGE OF THE WELT STRIP TO PRESSTHE STRIP AGAINST THE OVERLASTED MARGIN OF THE SHOE UPPER, AND A MEMBERSECURED TO SAID SPINDLE